Femme Rochas

I love to read about my favorite perfumes and I found this from a member of another perfumery website regarding the cumin note in Femme. Obviously I can't vouch for the veracity of his claims but it sure is fascinating: [from user PERFUMEKEV] Hello Team, Yes I am a perfumer and an avid collector of vintage perfumes. I have been collecting since I was 8 years old and am now 40. I started training as a perfumer when I was 18 and worked in the industry for 22 years. I have worked with I.F.F.,Symrise, Fragrance Resources and drom fragrances internatonal. I am now self employed. I have a Huge collection of antique perfume bottles more than 4000 bottles at this time. OK enough about me :o) and onto Femme de Rochas, I have spoken with some wonderful perfumers who are no longer with us and some who are who knew Edmond personally. Femme is built around a fruity peachy leathery base from DeLaire called Prunol. Prunol has a decent amount of Cumin Aldehyde in it. Most of the Classic perfumers worked in solutions of alcohol to save money, time, and to prevente accidental overdoses. So perhaps when Femme was originally constructed it had the prunol added in as a 10% alchohol solution. The reaction of Cumin Aldehyde in alchohol forms dimethyl and diethyl acetals of that Aldehyde. The Diethyl and Dimethyl Aldehydes are uslually much softer and much less appernet than a fresh aldehyde. Therefore the older the bottle of Femme is the less "cuminic" it smells. I have a very old bottle of Femme Parfum and I can definitely discern the Cumin note. It is very degraded and almost unapparent, but it is those cumin aldehyde degradation materials that I smell. The bottles from the 1960's and 1970's smell more "cuminic" than the 1940's and 1950's bottles. because they have aged less time. The other material that is so important to Femme de Rochas is another base from DeLaire called Fut Cinque. "Barrel 5 in English". It was used in the original Femme and it came from barrels that where out in the stock yard of DeLaire in the South of France. This "barrel 5" was a reaction accord and it had sat in the sun and the cold for many years. The Roudnitskas realized that there was something really beautiful about the smell of this barrel 5. The original batches of Femme where made only as a PERSONAL GIFT to the best clients of Marcel Rochas. However when the perfume proved to be extremely popular the team at DeLaire whent back to research what had gone into barrel 5. forntunately at this time exact records where kept as to all experimental materials the company was working on. They then Came up with a process that replicated the contents of barrel 5. It was then called Barrel 5 substitute. This secret base apears in many of Edmond Roudnitska's formulas. From Eau D'Hermes, Moustache Rochas, Mouslene Rochas, The Original Eau Fraiche Dior, Dior-Dior, Diorella, Eau Sauvage just to name a few. I also smell Prunol DeLaire in almost all of these great treasures of perfumery. These two notes were central to the style of M. Roudnitska. What happened later when Edomond and his wife moved from DeLaire to form their own company called "Art et Parfum". I belive at some point and time Perfumes Rochas was taken over by other people other than Marcel Rochas and Edomond Roudnitska. I know by the time the cumin monster version of Femme came out in 1989 either the Prunol base was very fresh or Quest the perfume house that reworked Femme could have used their own version of Prunol. Also at this time Haarmann and Riemer now Symrise took control of the DeLaire Specialty Bases. They shortend and modernized the production methods used in the original DeLaire formulas. Also what probably happened as well was that the way perfumes were constructed was done differently in the earlier decades of the 20th Century. It is a technique called nesting, where pieces and parts of the formula are made and aged in specific order giving a very special note to a finished fragrance. Edmond's Wife Therese was a chemist who worked at DeLaire. She understood the importance of reacting certain materials together to make notes that other perfumers would not have. One example is a certain natural material would be heated with a synthetic material for many days, and then could be distilled ,and then heated to a point that it would almost burn this creates a very unique note, this is only one example of the types of tailored made materials that the Roudnitskas' liked to work with. If you use enough materials that are made like this it is virtually impossible to recreate what the original perfumer made. With the amount of variables the perfume will always have a different smell. However this is what made classical perfumery so wonderful. It is the inconstancies and consistencies that makes something truly fabulous. foot note. Fete de Molyneux has a very good amount of Prunol DeLaire in it. That is why it smells somewhat like Femme

This is a beautiful fruity floral chypre. I love the clear glass bottle. I ordered mine from ebay and it came with a liquid that was more like dark red or wine-red, not the orange colored one as pictured in this photo. It was an EDT which meant the concentration was lighter and unfortunately not very long lasting but while it lasted it was heaven. The first accords I am smelling at the time I first spray it are the fruit notes. This is a fruit based gourmand, really, by today's standards. The first of it's kind in 1944 when first released, when most fragrances were soapy aldehyde florals. For this to be a fruity perfume in 1944 the wearer was likely a young woman in her 20s or 30s. I can smell this on the Andrews Sisters, Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland, Mae West (who supposedly inspire the bottle design and shape) and Betty Grable. The young ladies would have worn it in the day time with a pretty dress just to smell feminine as she went about her day casually. Nothing formal and or sexy-glamorous about this one. The fruits are a delicious with citruses, peaches, apricot and plum. It's like a light smoothie. The spices come through to keep it from being overly sweet and tart. The whole thing turns into a kind of fruit scented honey. To my nose the big fruit in it is the apricot. By the time the fruits start to mellow and slowly fade, the flowers merge with their sweet scent so as to become a vague fruity AND floral hybrid. There's definitely a carnation which was quite common as a floral note in those days. Another perfume coming out at this time at the end of WW 2 included Nina Ricci's L'air du temps which also prominently featured carnations. Then there's a jammy red rose in the heart but there's also a delicious bouquet of several other flowers i.e; rosemary, jasmine, iris, and ylang-ylang. To my nose the other floral note that stands out other than carnation is the note of rosemary and ylang ylang. The iris seems to come through for a while as the scent wears on and starts to get a little bit powdery but I don't find this to be a big powder bomb at all and not nearly as powdery or soapy as L'air du temps. The rosemary and ylang ylang are very nicely blended. The florals dissipate and in comes the spice notes. There's cinnamon but not too much of it, cloves, vanilla and tonka bean, just a very unisex kind of spice accord. The spices also make this fragrance come off as exotic. It's taking me to the South Pacific (where WW 2 was fought in part) and so it smells like the Philippines, Tahiti, French Polynesia, or Hawaii. It transports you to the Hawaiian islands too. The exotic air of spices is also further enhanced by the note of leather and musk. There's a dark vanilla. It's earthy, and just slightly mossy and woodsy. There's more musk to my nose than wood but definitely the classic signatures of Oriental base dry downs - amber, vanilla, musk. The dry down is warm. This perfume makes me feel so womanly so sexy you have no idea. No fragrance today selling at Macy's can do that for me. Femme can do it even in it's reformulated state. To me fragrances are personal and can turn into something for me that can't be the same to anyone else. It's my personal escapism. I love to wear this perfume, put on a vintage flower pattern dress, put on a hibiscus flower in my hair or a tiare white flower and look inviting and like an island girl in the day time for lunch dates. This perfume is so Heddy Lamarr, Dorothy Lamour who was the queen of the sarongs. This has to be worn with a sarong. Very hard to pull of that vintage look with this perfume but if Dita van Teese can do it, the young woman with the right make up and clothing of yesteryear can also do it. This perfume is so enchanting. If you're like me and love vintage clothes and vintage perfumes to go with them, then this is totally for you. I wear it in spring, summer and early fall. The scent is so intoxicating and it will seduce you most of all.

Ravishing! That’s the word that makes the most sense when talking about Femme, one of Edmond Roudnitska’s finest creations and one of the jewels of Rochas. Review based on a Parfum de Toilette from the 70’s. In the early 1940’s, with the devastation of WW2, fragrances sought to bring optimism and joy. Miss Dior was one, joyous and optimistic. Femme was another. But Femme was different; it was more sensual, more voluptuous. Originally dedicated to Hélène, the young wife of Marcel Rochas, it soon won the heart of its exclusive clientele and went public in 1944. Although it was created during a period of scarcity and post war devastation, Femme was incredibly rich, both in beauty and composition, featuring the now famous Prunol base from De Laire. Edmond discovered it in an abandoned warehouse and made copious use of it, creating the signature of Femme, and setting the path for future compositions. With a strong connection to Mitsouko, the fruity chypre from Guerlain, Femme amplifies the peach lactones, and marries them with stewed apricots and plums and prunes, creating a boozy fruit compote. Ionones, with their violet and rose tonalities, create a sepia haze of deep oranges and browns that shimmer in a silver ray of light. It’s fruity in a decomposing nature, almost rotting, honeyed; and it’s the most erotic ripe fruit accord in modern perfume history. Femme also makes use of warm spices; cinnamon, cumin (which degrades over time, making the vintage richer but also giving the impression it lacks cumin), cloves, with spicy carnation and a touch of rose and jasmine to create a tantalizing melange that feels warming rather than spicy. Rosewood, civet and castoreum, leather, resins and oakmoss in all its glory...they anchor Femme on skin for hours on end. It’s a candlelit glow, the warm embrace of a loved one finally returning home. Femme is sometimes oriental, more often than not chypre, but always gorgeous and profound. And this worn, lived in sensuality, is what makes her all the most appealing, less cerebral and more human than Mitsouko; they could be relatives, but while Mitsy was brought up among royalty, Femme had to fight her way through, gaining the experience that life brings the hard way. Femme, like many classics, was inspired by others (Mitsouko) but also inspired many; the rosewood in Habit Rouge is highly reminiscent of the woody accord in Femme. The bergamot, furocoumarin heavy in the vintage, has a dark edge just like in Shalimar, another inspiration that lends certain smokiness to Femme. Quadrille, Jubilation 25, Mon Parfum Cheri...tributes to the artistry of Edmond. Le Parfum de Thérèse; Edmond’s tribute to his own wife. There is a certain sensuality, eroticism, that Edmond knew how to infuse in his creations. He worked with many bases, he aged ingredients and created his own accords. His signature is complex, multifaceted, and never duplicated. There isn’t a creation of his that doesn’t scream elegance, carnality and beauty. And that’s why reformulations of his work are very inferior; they lack the artist’s touch. Femme was kept more or less loyal to Edmond’s formula until the late 80’s when it was reformulated to comply with the first big waves of the fragrance industry. From there on, Femme has been losing its chypre character and beauty to slowly become a spicy oriental, which is what is sold today. The complex formulation of the past, with its myriad of ingredients and accords, alchemically composed in a scarce period, as if pure magic, is now a simpler spicy peach that somehow still retains some of its beauty. It’s been facelifted, tummytucked and botoxed, but underneath there is still a glimpse of la grande vieille dame! Vintage: a spicy chypre, full on sensuality. Impecable, complex, engulfing. Not a single flaw. Modern: a less complex spicy ‘chypriental’, light on oakmoss and animalic notes, heavy on spices and cumin to make up for lost ingredients.

Honestly, I was afraid to try this perfume for a while. It's that cumin note that made me hesitate, plus I wasn't sure how the fruits would come across. But, I love big vintage chypres and orientals, and that's very much the territory of Femme. I finally caved on a blind buy and, thankfully, Femme is a "love" for me. At the price it sells for, the perceived quality of ingredients, and the fact that it lasts forever and projects pretty well, it's also an incredible bargain. I bought my bottle in 2020 and it has the clear/gold cap. Not sure how this compares to other versions. I like my fruit dry (not dried) and more "mature" rather than juicy, sweet, and youthful. The fruit here is exactly the kind I like. The plum is the dry bitterness of the peel and the refreshing but restrained taste of the white/clear flesh inside. It isn't a syrupy purple plum like Poison (which I also like, but, it's very different). The apricot does remind me of the apricot in Tresor- sort of a shampoo apricot, but it's tempered here. The peach is a Mitsouko peach. There's a spiciness (cinnamon, cloves) and the slightest touch of rosemary that makes all this fruit lean savory. All this fruit is very front and center from start to finish. Mitsouko EDP is probably the closest "if you like" type of comparison I can come up with. They both share the same approach to fruit laid over a dusty bed of oakmoss and woods and swirled with autumn spices. There's an austere refinement, depth, and a harkening back to older times that they both possess. Where Femme veers off for me is in the absolute femininity it evokes. Femme is indeed well named. I can't help but think of that photo of Audrey Hepburn barefoot in the kitchen and pulling some tasty baked good out of the oven. Both Audrey and Femme are quintessentially feminine in the stereotypical 1940/50s way: domestic, pretty, elegant but soft, and with this ephemeral boudoir air that is never overt but very much there. The leather is very apparent from start to finish and makes me think of the softest, finest grain light-brown kidskin gloves. The word "supple" comes to mind. There's also a waxy, almost creamy unscented but ever so slightly floral candle wax thing going on. Like tallow or the same kind of feeling that oily lilac can sometimes evoke (think the lilac in Mitsouko or Chamade). I find this appealing. I'm not sure if it's the cumin, the rosewood, the patchouli, and the musk (all of which are definitely present, but not distinct like the leather and fruit...they more act to provide shading and character to the main leather/fruit), but Femme also makes me think of fluffy fur coats. Not faux fur, but real fur with that tinge of animalic scent...possibly worn with nothing on underneath. The leather and that waxy scent probably play a role in this too. Again, something from another era but still a recognizable luxury today. This also brings out the other side of femininity, the more animalic, sexual side. While I don't think Femme screams sex! there is a definite undercurrent of sensuality here. I picture it like this: you're invited to a holiday dinner (Thanksgiving or Christmas, definitely, this scent encapsulates fall/winter to me, complete with crackling fire, mulled wine, and snow on the ground) and the hostess is beautiful, elegant, composed. Her jewelry and clothes are classic and high quality. She cooked everything you're eating from scratch, and it is delicious. Her manners are impeccable...And you know that as soon as the guests leave, the children are put to bed, and the dishes are cleaned, she and the host are going to have an incredibly passionate night together.

One Femme, three major reformulations. The clash between dirty cumin and Mitsouko. Fine animalic, fruity chypre with respectable preservation. Due to Rochas's lack of promotion, Amouage Jubilation(w) took over in terms of highlights. To me, the modern Femme is on par with the reformulated Amouage, despite the deviated price gap, which reflects the respect that >2009 formula and Olivier Cresp had for Roudnitska(original perfumer, 1943). So, any formulation of Rochas Femme is for people into chypres or just into complex perfumery. However, the post 2009 batches have obscurities that reflects its low pricepoint. I have briefly deduced the differences between the Roudniskta(1943), Olivier Cresp(1989) and >2009 formulations, for people in a hurry: (This is solely a differentiation based on the DNA, not a review) Edmond Roudnitska original formulation(PDT)- I will regard this has the reference to any consequent iteration of R.Femme. Dense Plum top with astringent florals in the mid coupled with cumin. Cumin as a material in any form is extremely sensitive which makes it difficult for perfumers to handle with. Here, the cumin is balanced around the traditional chypre construction adding depth with its animalic “human skin profile” around the plum and floral heart. The least tenacious version and the most fruity, maintaining a clean harmony between the fruits and BO; despite the cumin. A must to visualize the interlink between Roudniska and Femme, albeit Olivier Cresp was respectful enough. This is the weakest performer, with around 3-4hours of longevity on skin; tho can be extended if sprayed on shirt. I generally respray every 2hours. Olivier Cresp reformulation, post 1989(EDPThis straight up is a much bolder and sharper version, with an amped up cumin over the previous. The sharpness arises due to the anharmonicity of cumin used, and the base is animalic, reminiscent of unshowered human sweat. This is for someone into animalic and sweaty compositions, Salome and Rules of attraction comes to mind from the “animalic chypre” hierarchy. This is the strongest of the bunch, the over 8hrs on tenacity on skin; which is an unfathomable duration for a fruity chypre where the quality is preserved. Current formulation, post 2009(EDT)- An imbalanced cumin bomb with a harsh plum accord uptop. The plum lacks the richness of the original. With time, the entire structure shifts towards a muffled, unsynchronized duet between cumin, plum and harsh oakmoss. The cumin is strong, tho the plum gives off a detergent aroma (butyl formate) which is further exacerbated by an abrasive evernyl at the back. The incoherency of the materials increase with time, making it difficult to tolerate after an hour, often leading to the need to wash it off. The initial 20-30min of cumin+plum (femme) aura is respectable, tho the emerging plastic base ruins the reformulation. Everything has their pros and cons in disguise. Despite the harmonious balance between materials of varying densities in the original, it lacks the longevity expected by contemporary standards. Which infact is not seen in the “less” balanced compositions(2009 → current). A priority of performance over art with inferior craftsmanship does nothing other than induce distortion towards the true root. I personally prefer the original(E.Roudnitska) formulation due to the balance, however the Olivier Cresp reform is commendable. Tho, the modern falls short in every department; disrespecting the quality E.Roudnitska is known for, despite an intact DNA.